Schaeffler India Limited's (NSE:SCHAEFFLER) Stock Has Been Sliding But Fundamentals Look Strong: Is The Market Wrong?

It is hard to get excited after looking at Schaeffler India's (NSE:SCHAEFFLER) recent performance, when its stock has declined 12% over the past three months. However, stock prices are usually driven by a company’s financial performance over the long term, which in this case looks quite promising. Specifically, we decided to study Schaeffler India's ROE in this article.

Return on equity or ROE is a key measure used to assess how efficiently a company's management is utilizing the company's capital. Simply put, it is used to assess the profitability of a company in relation to its equity capital.

View our latest analysis for Schaeffler India

How Is ROE Calculated?

ROE can be calculated by using the formula:

Return on Equity = Net Profit (from continuing operations) ÷ Shareholders' Equity

So, based on the above formula, the ROE for Schaeffler India is:

19% = ₹9.1b ÷ ₹49b (Based on the trailing twelve months to September 2024).

The 'return' is the amount earned after tax over the last twelve months. That means that for every ₹1 worth of shareholders' equity, the company generated ₹0.19 in profit.

Why Is ROE Important For Earnings Growth?

Thus far, we have learned that ROE measures how efficiently a company is generating its profits. Depending on how much of these profits the company reinvests or "retains", and how effectively it does so, we are then able to assess a company’s earnings growth potential. Generally speaking, other things being equal, firms with a high return on equity and profit retention, have a higher growth rate than firms that don’t share these attributes.

A Side By Side comparison of Schaeffler India's Earnings Growth And 19% ROE

To begin with, Schaeffler India seems to have a respectable ROE. Further, the company's ROE compares quite favorably to the industry average of 15%. Probably as a result of this, Schaeffler India was able to see an impressive net income growth of 25% over the last five years. We believe that there might also be other aspects that are positively influencing the company's earnings growth. Such as - high earnings retention or an efficient management in place.

As a next step, we compared Schaeffler India's net income growth with the industry and found that the company has a similar growth figure when compared with the industry average growth rate of 28% in the same period.

The basis for attaching value to a company is, to a great extent, tied to its earnings growth. What investors need to determine next is if the expected earnings growth, or the lack of it, is already built into the share price. Doing so will help them establish if the stock's future looks promising or ominous. If you're wondering about Schaeffler India's's valuation, check out this gauge of its price-to-earnings ratio, as compared to its industry.

Is Schaeffler India Efficiently Re-investing Its Profits?

The three-year median payout ratio for Schaeffler India is 43%, which is moderately low. The company is retaining the remaining 57%. By the looks of it, the dividend is well covered and Schaeffler India is reinvesting its profits efficiently as evidenced by its exceptional growth which we discussed above.

Moreover, Schaeffler India is determined to keep sharing its profits with shareholders which we infer from its long history of paying a dividend for at least ten years. Upon studying the latest analysts' consensus data, we found that the company's future payout ratio is expected to drop to 33% over the next three years. Regardless, the ROE is not expected to change much for the company despite the lower expected payout ratio.

Summary

Overall, we are quite pleased with Schaeffler India's performance. In particular, it's great to see that the company is investing heavily into its business and along with a high rate of return, that has resulted in a sizeable growth in its earnings. That being so, a study of the latest analyst forecasts show that the company is expected to see a slowdown in its future earnings growth. To know more about the company's future earnings growth forecasts take a look at this free report on analyst forecasts for the company to find out more.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.